Our trip to see Mum in Stanton after a few garden chores and there to install a new pond pump and switch such that she now seemed to be much happier having received a visit, and cards for her birthday the day before. Home I time to collect Della from school and to organise deliveries of our latest Focus newsletter.
I had dedicated most of today to making a birthday visit to Mum but, as the gardener had started his week's holiday, I spent an hour first watering the plants, flower baskets and tending the swimming pool and fish pond. I am very pleased that the fish have become so tame as to feed from my hand which is quite impressive. Soon after 9.00am, we set off and drove past Mum's village and on to Diss where we bought her new pump for her pond. Once we had got back to Stanton and had a rest and cup of tea, I installed the pump and also the protective net that I had bought to keep the cats off the remaining fish.
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I put in a socket so that she could change between the summer fountain circulating pump and the winter pond heater and, despite having difficulty with the old wire to the pond from her bungalow, I just managed the job within the two hour visit we had time for. Mum seems happier with things and had received a number of cards and phone calls for her birthday and was pleased to see us today. It was a pity that my sister had not made the effort to pop over yesterday and Diana has decided to write and ask Freda to install the toilet that Mum needs to make her visits to Redgrave comfortable. Home in time to collect Della from school and then I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening parcelling up the latest FOCUS's into delivery rounds and getting then out to the deliverers. This was quite a successful process as I only ended up with two parcels plus Diana's round left for us to find homes for. I was ready for another early night's sleep but Diana was up late watching a TV film and so I saw the news before turning in at 11.00pm.